The Great American Culture of Cover-up

by Philip A. Faruggio / August 13th, 2012

We have seen many cover-ups and scandals throughout the history of our nation. Barely twelve years into this, the 21st century, there are three major cover-ups that add to our national shame: 9/11, Iraq invasion and the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal. Each time, those at the very top of power failed, or chose to fail, to follow the narrow path of truth. Truth is this funny thing because the more you either stretch it or silence it, eventually, like that puppy that runs away… it always returns. It may take months or years, or even a generation or two, but it will come back!

There are many facts and half truths, disinformation of all types about what really went down on 9/11. This writer will not focus on what it took volumes of 9/11 Truth to uncover, that being to question how many rogue elements inside of our own intelligence agencies were somewhat involved. Sometimes it is the little things that reveal so much. When the president of the United States is told on August 6, 2001 that “…FBI information indicates suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings and other types of attack”… the threat was so real that the Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft, stopped flying on commercial aircraft that summer!

We had true patriots like Sibel Edmonds, a government translator, who warned in April of 2001 that “Bin Laden was planning a major attack in the US within a few months, using airplanes and targeting four or five American cities.” She went on to warn that the operatives were “already inside the United States”. There were diligent FBI agents like Coleen Rowley who actually pinpointed some of these possible Bin Laden operatives… and nothing was done to follow up. So, way before the heinous act was completed, the truth was swept under the rug by those who had the power to save lives.

The invasion of Iraq was consummated after a campaign of fear, disinformation and outright lying. We knew then that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. In his 2003 resignation speech before Parliament, Labor MP Robin Cook, former cabinet member and one time confidante of Tony Blair, made things perfectly clear. Cook explained how not only did Saddam Hussein not possess WMDs in 2001, but any WMDs that he once had were supplied for him by the US, the Brits and the French. Here at home in America, the Bush cabal was working overtime to rally the public into a ‘fear plus revenge’ and ‘fight them there before they come here’ mode. An overly compliant mainstream media and bipartisan Congressional cowardice helped take the phony war on Iraq over the top.

Senator Robert Byrd was left with an almost empty Senate chamber to hear his warnings about rushing to war. Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector, was made into a raving fool by the media. Phil Donahue had his cable television talk show cancelled right before we invaded Iraq, because he covered the subject too well (and too balanced – Donahue always had more pro invasion talking heads on his panels than dissidents). So, we invaded and Shock and Awed that modern and culturally advanced sovereign nation back into the Stone Ages.

Then the cover-up went into high gear. In October of 2006 a group of (so called) progressive Democrats held an impromptu panel discussion on the invasion of Iraq. Rep. John Conyers of Michigan made a most eloquent statement promising that when the Democrats took back control of the Congress and he became chair of the Judiciary Committee, his first order of business would be to conduct hearings on the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. History reveals that the Democrats did succeed and he did become chair… yet no hearings! The Military Industrial Empire once again ruled supreme.

As anyone who reads or watches television knows, former assistant football coach of Penn State University, Jerry Sandusky, was arrested, tried and convicted of repeated sexual child abuse, spanning decades. Football coach Joe Paterno and three school officials were either indicted or put under the public microscope for helping to cover up these heinous acts by Sandusky.

There were many other individuals, from government agencies to charity executives, to even janitors, who knew that this man was a sexual predator. Read the new book Game Over by Bill Moushey and Bob Dvorchak for the intricate details of this terrible crime and cover-up.

When a grown man is seen showering with a young boy, not even 12 years of age, that should be enough to begin investigations. Yet, there were much worse instances than that. When a mother goes to the high school where her son is a freshman, and sees him in a fetal position on a chair sobbing in the school office about how Sandusky had sexually violated him for years…that was in 2008, three years before any arrest! We can focus all our attention on Jerry Sandusky, who was and is a very sick man.

Yet, it was the multitude of individuals who refused to pursue the facts as they were given them. Why? Why was the young boy who was in the shower with Sandusky in 2002, the event that got Paterno and the Penn State officials into this fray, never questioned by any of them? If he was questioned, perhaps many other young boys could have been spared the most heinous violations of their beings by this perverse and mentally ill man.

Truth does always triumph in the end, but at whose expense?

Philip A Farruggio is son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen. A graduate of Brooklyn College (class of '74 with a BA in Speech & Theater), he is a free lance columnist posted on World News Trust, Nation of Change Blog, Op Ed News,TheSleuthJournal.com, The Intrepid Report, Information Clearing House, Dandelion Salad, Activist Post, Dissident Voice, Counterpunch and many other sites worldwide. Philip works as an environmental products sales rep and has been a street corner protest activist leader and Green Party member since 2000. In 2010 he became a local spokesperson for the 25% Solution Movement to Save Our Cities by cutting military spending 25%. He can be reached at paf1222@bellsouth.net. Read other articles by Philip A..